


Now We're Strangers

by NoelleLaMarie



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bastet/Oc, Cleo/Oc, F/F, Graphic Depictions of Illness, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Magicat Ocs - Freeform, Mental Instability, Musical Instruments, Osiris/Oc - Freeform, Partying, Percival/Oc - Freeform, Slow Burn, Strawberries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-07 16:19:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21460936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoelleLaMarie/pseuds/NoelleLaMarie
Summary: 8 years after Etheria reappeared out of the pocket dimension of Despondos, two sisters find that their three-year-long journey across the universe is about to come to an end. As they make their way back home, they are secure in the knowledge that the kingdom of Half-Moon is strong enough to protect them. But the past has a way of following even the most remorseful of souls, and when rumors of an old enemy start to circle around Brightmoon, It will take everything in C'yra's favor to be able to stay by her families side.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	1. Coming out of Carbias 9

Bastet was a happy child. Even while walking through a barren desert in the middle of the night, after being woken up abruptly by her sister and packing their campsite without breakfast, Bastet couldn’t help but be excited about the prospect of leaving the small town they had been staying at and moving on to wherever C’yra decided they were going next. The other kids of the town weren’t mean to her per se, but after her first day there, they had started acting standoffish with some of them even making fun of her fluffy ears and white-tipped tail. When she told her older sister about it, she said that the other children must have realized how much better Bastet was then them and that Bastet should try making friends with people who are more worthy of her.

“Like Tut and Lyssa?”

“Yeah, or that one kid from Primus?”

“Kayo?”

“Yeah! Hang out with more people like him. People who recognize your greatness and who can match it perfectly.”

Bastet wasn’t able to find anyone like that in Armorcloni, but that was fine. There was always the next place and the place after that.

3 months ago they had arrived in Armorcloni, a desert community on the 9th planet of Carbias, with no home and not very many possessions other than spare food, clothes, and camping equipment. Years ago, the place was a mining town that manufactured Armor and Weapons for the seemingly endless war in Eternia. Since the government body that controlled Carbias planets 1 through 12 opted to remain neutral in the war, arms were discreetly distributed to both sides of the conflict, giving planets like Carbias 9 a period of economic prosperity with Armorcloni being one of its primary cities for export. Since the war had ended, however, the companies and workers who had come to the town to capitalize on the resources had left almost immediately, along with most of the aforementioned prosperity. Armorcloni became a shell and a shadow of its former self, so much so that the only company that is still in operation in the town can barely survive with most of the town’s people working there just to keep it alive.

Suspicious then that a dark cat woman with jagged scars and a missing eye would drift into town one night with a child, supposedly looking for work as if Armorcloni could provide such a thing. The rumors flew, some said that the woman was a young mother, running from debt collectors in the capital and giving herself and her daughter a sisterly relationship to avoid the shame; others said that she was a criminal of some kind that was using the little girl as leverage for her freedom. Whatever the case, she miraculously found work with the mine after helping one of the managers during an oddly timed blackout a month into the two sister’s stay. Her job was to look for ore in the underused passages and to listen for tremors in the ground as a sort of safety guide for the workers. It was a placeholder job, one she got for being buddies with the higher-ups, but one that also provided some extra food money for Bastet and herself so it was fine for right then.

Two months later the president of the company came from the capital to Armorcloni to inspect the mine. While there he asked C’yra and a few of the other workers about the state of things.

“The tunnels are stable enough,” She told him truthfully, “The problem is simply a lack of resources. There’s nothing to mine.”

That was apparently not what the president had wanted to hear. He immediately made his way back to the inn where he was staying with a sour mug on his face, and by the end of the day, C’yra had been fired from the company with a vengeance, not that she really cared. The two sisters had eaten early that night at C’yra’s insistence.

“We have a long day tomorrow, so hurry up and get to bed so we can leave early.”

“We’re leaving? Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“Oh…”

“Don’t worry. It’s a good place.”

“Oh. Ok!” 

And here they were, making their way through the sandy desert just as the red sun had begun to rise over the dunes. Every once in awhile Bastet would be distracted by the beauty of the sunrise before C’yra had to chastise her into moving quicker, she only relented when a blue building began to appear in the distance, one that relaxed the elder significantly upon sight but did not serve to slow her pace until the two were just on its doorstep. The kitten didn’t understand how large the building was until they got closer to it; it was at least 6 C’yras high and 4 Daddys long, with very little in the way of décor or windows. It looked more like a storage shed than anything else, albeit impossibly huge storage shed. There was a human man standing outside of the building who waved to them as they approached, he had on green overalls and gloved hands stained with some black substance that Bastet did not want to place.

He directed himself to C’yra, “You’re the one who called last night,Félicette right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” C’yra didn’t regard him much as she looked around the building to determine its entrance, just like Bastet didn’t regard how her sister didn’t give the man her real name, as she often didn’t.

“…and we’re kinda in a hurry so could we speed this up?”

“Oh, yeah sure come on in.” The man showed them the entrance, C’yra walked right past him while he held the door open for Bastet. “Milady.”

The kitten giggled at the gesture before running into the building after her sister. The inside was even larger than the outside, at least according to Bastet. The man stood behind them and switched on the light to illuminate the giant room. Rows of space ships and aircrafts lined along both sides of the walls, each one was different, and each one was larger and more intrinsically designed than the last. There was one on the far end that looked very much like an admiral battleship, though Bastet wasn’t sure if it was really. She remembered the smaller flightier pods that she and C’yra would share while traveling across worlds, they were always cramped but she didn’t really complain much beyond stating the obvious to which her sister would usually agree. The kitten would sometimes wonder about the large luxurious ship cruisers that would sometimes zoom past them through space and the kind of people who occupied them. Now here she was standing in the giant-sized hanger that carried smaller jets and ships of a similar caliber to those she often daydreamed about. C’yra let out a grunt that Bastet understood to mean ‘look at me’ which she did.

“Go on.” She said. “Pick out the one you like.”

Bastet’s tail began to swish back and forth as excitement and eagerness painted her face. “Really?!”

“Yeah sure, go nuts.”

The kitten wasted no time in rushing for every ship, cruiser, flightier pod, and jet to find her favorite, she barely acknowledged her sister's warnings about time and space, specifically the lack of time they had to get this done and the carrying capacity they would and wouldn’t need in access.

“Just don’t get anything too big, and be quick about it!” she yelled after her.

As Bastet was perusing each space vehicle for the one she liked best, the man who ran the shop took a good long look at C’yra. He approached her apprehensively. 

“Hey, you didn’t mention in your… I-I mean I didn’t notice before…” The look of annoyance on the elder sisters face as she turned to him was hard to miss and even harder to stand. The man looked away.

“Your… um…” His words all but died in his mouth.

“My eye,” C’yra answered for him, her large animal-like ears twitched, their inner and outer shells scarred with missing tissue in stark contrast with her sisters smaller fuller ones.

“S-sorry miss,” he said after finally finding his voice. “…But we only rent out to licensed drivers, company policy and all that… heh. U-unless you have someone else who can drive you I can’t-” 

“I FOUND ONE!”

A child’s voice rang out from the depths of the hanger, breaking the tension as well as the deadly glare that her sister was giving to the poor young shop owner. The two adults made their way over towards the voice with C’yra at the head and the man trailing a distance behind her. They found Bastet climbing up from underneath the belly of slick red luxury line jet. The elder sister whistled in admiration while the shop owner shifted into selling mode.

“That,” he told them with a grin, “Is the Inferno X45, or the better more modern version of one at least. They use to be very popular about 8 years ago, top of the line for the young and wealthy. My old man and I got this one about 5 years ago and it was a beauty then, but we’ve been working on a few… updates till now.”

Bastet ran her little paw over the red paint going all the way around the ship before retreating under its side.

“What kind of updates are we talking about?” C’yra asked him.

“Well the cockpit has all of the usual apps, radio, call screen, music player, GPS navigational system of all five traversable galaxies, BlueTooth, but I’ve included a lot of basic games like chess and pong, there’s also a PA system that connects to the rest of the ship. Other than that it comes with a queen-size bed and couch, a kitchen unit with a mini-fridge and a microwave, a lounge with a flat-screen you can get a few channels on, two bathrooms, and a heat and lighting system.” 

“Hm.”

The mans grin fell as he continued, “We also made a few adjustments to the engines, obviously we can’t rent out a total hot rod-”

C’yra frowned. “So you slowed it down then.”

“Well yeah, but it's still by far the fastest ship in the house, AND might I add that it’s completely electric, so no need to worry about polluting the atmosphere of whatever planet you may be traveling to.”

A series of giggles erupted from atop the ship to which Bastet’s little head poked out from the rim. 

“Hey!” the man called out to her, “Please be careful!”

“How much for two days?” C’yra asked him, ignoring both her sister’s actions and his plea for them to stop.

“Well,” the man hesitated, “Like I said-”

“I’m going to call for someone to drive us where we need.” The elder sister’s voice softened significantly. “I just want to know if this is something I can afford.” her tail swished as she led the man away from the vehicle and Bastet. “Now tell me more about this intercom system…”

Bastet picked the red ship because it was sparkly, and also cause it reminded her of C’yra because C’yra also wore red a lot and both her and the ship were really pretty. She didn’t care that C’yra had lines all over her face and arms, or that her ears were all jacked up, or that she was missing one of her eyeballs, her big sister was still beautiful. The most beautiful Magicat ever. Bastet hoped that she could be as pretty as C’yra and Mommy when she got big. Daddy and Papa would always talk about how pretty Mommy was, and since her Mommy was also C’yra’s Mommy, Bastet had no problem believing that. She remembered Daddy telling her about how to tell what gems were real or fake back when they last met up on Ennercin, a planet known for their jewelry making.

He said, “If you’re not sure how valuable something is, put it in your mouth. If it feels warm then it’s a glass copy. Not worth buying.” She missed him and Papa. 

For the rest of their visit on that planet, whenever Bastet found something new she would hold it up to the light or put it in her mouth to determine how good it was. It took her sister several tries to get her to stop, culminating in the attempted licking of a duster pod C’yra borrowed to get off of Ennercin, that her sister finally told her what dad said was not a universal rule for everything. Now she knew better than to put her mouth on different things, but still, Bastet couldn’t help but wonder how good this ship actually was. Seeing how the light bounced off the red jet, revealing all of the little scars that decorated its surface underneath the fresh coat of paint, the ship had been through a lot clearly, but what or how or why would have to remain a mystery to Bastet. Before the kitten knew it, C’yra had returned with the keys to the Inferno and a remote that controlled the roof of the building.

“What are you doing?” her big sister asked.

Bastet placed both small paws on the largest mark she could find, one that was off to the right side of the underbelly of the jet and that stretched up onto the upper right wing. Without looking back she answered through a yawn:

“Doing the Past-Ie-Lookie-Time-Thingy-Thing.”

C’yra wrinkled her brow. “Past-Ie-Lookie… oh.” Bastet closed her eyes in concentration before her sister forcefully handed her a bag.

“I don’t think you’ll be able to do that just yet Bastet.” The elder opened the door to the ship and walked in, dropping her share of the luggage on the nearby couch.

“Papa said Mommy could.” The kitten followed her and looked in awe at the inside of the already impressive spacecraft. Like the outside, the inside was covered in shades of red and gold, with a carpeted floor and wall lights that when switched on lamented the room in a soft but distinct glow. The couch was set in front of a TV monitor, which was plugged into the wall directly above a polished oak drawer.

“Mom had years of experience and training with the Night Diamond.” As her sister said this, Bastet had plopped onto the couch with the luggage and watched as her sister walked out again with the remote to the roof hatch. C’yra pushed a button and left the remote in the middle of the building's concrete floor as the ceiling slowly opened to the morning sky. She walked back into the Inferno and shut the door behind her. Bastet propped herself on the couch cushions before letting out a long drown out yawn. 

“Can’t we use the Diamond?” She asked, her eyes getting droopy, watching her sister go through their bags looking for something.

“Of Course. All Magicats have a connection to it, its how we’re able to keep in touch with Dad and Pops while we’re on the road.” C’yra pulled out a small-flowered blanket and draped it over Bastet’s form. She knelt to the kittens level. “But only it’s holder, the Sphinx, can wield all of its power.”

“Can I do it?” Bastet whispered.

“If you want,” C’yra stood up and headed for the cockpit. “But you’ll have to work hard for it, and we’ll have to be with Dad and Pops when you start practicing. You know they're going to go crazy when they see you again.”

Bastet shot up, “When are we seeing them again!?” she asked excitedly.

“Oh…” The elder sister stopped on the stairs that lead to the other room. Her blue eye gleamed with amusement when she looked back at the child, smiling. “Soonish, maybe. Now, take a nap so you don’t sleep-in all day.” 

“But I’m hungry!” Bastet called after her as she walked into the cockpit.

“Eat a Gummy bar from my bag!” Her sister called back. “Then sleep!”

Bastet lay down on the couch with a huff. She was too hungry to go to sleep. Dinner was forever ago, and she didn’t want to wait until noon for food like that one time Dad burnt their breakfast on that one planet she doesn’t remember. C’yra always packed them some Ms. Luckiest Gummy Bars in her bag but she always got the same flavor and Bastet was sick of strawberry-banana. And so Bastet closed her eyes in the most raged fueled naptime she’s ever had and tried to get to sleep before she starved to death in the big luxurious space jet.

Knowing that it was only a matter of time before the younger one would fall asleep again, C’yra sat at the control panel and plugged in the coordinates to their next location. The Inferno lifted up through the roof to look over the barren deserts of Carbias 9. Armorcloni was visible off in the distance along with several other small settlements seen across the planet. C’yra fiddled with the small card in her hand as she plugged it into the ship's interface and began extracting what she needed from its contents. By the time she was through, the ship was already several light-years away from the Carbias system, with several more to go before they reached their destination. In her younger years, she would never have conceived the expansiveness of space or the possibility of basically living perpetually within it as she did now. So much nothing was something she had no concept of as a child. 

In those days there was always something to do, always some chaos to wrestle with. Not that her life was devoid of chaos now, what with partially raising a child and all, but the chaos of then was a stark contrast to the chaos of now. Whereas before felt like stepping on spikes of glass through a minefield, now was like walking through an unmarked path of wilderness. Safer in theory, but still a path not to be taken lightly; in fact, the very uncertainty of it compared to the minefield meant that the wild was by far the more dangerous route of the two. At least in the minefield, she knew what to expect, glass and explosives were man driven creations, put there specifically to prolong the suffering of those trapped in the environment. But in the wild, anything could and would happen. Even in these last 3 years of hopping from planet to planet, C’yra knew that it could all come to an end any day now; and then there was Bastet. Her little sister deserved better then the jungle they traversed now, far from the horrors of the minefield; a place where danger was rare and beds were soft. She knew of a place like that long ago though she: C’yra, had never been and had never seen. Still, she knew it existed because almost everyone who was ever important in her life was already there and if Bastet were to go to such a place then…

…That life was not for their kind, and not for C’yra certainly, still if it was at all possible…

Silent and grave, the woman walked out of the cockpit and down the stairs to the trash dispenser, passing by a very much asleep Bastet on her way there. She placed the card inside, locked the glass door, and watched as the plastic burned to ash before being shot out into space. At least for now, she could pretend to have enough for her sister’s comfort and survival.


	2. Little Wind

Bastet dreamed that she was swimming in a sun, like it was a golden swimming pool, which if you swam far enough, would turn into the hair of a pretty, glowing, goddess lady. She awoke to her sisters nudging.

“Come on, wake up! I’m not letting you sleep past nine.”

Bastet grumbled and covered her face with the blanket as C’yra picked her up and threw her over her shoulder, taking the kitten kicking and hissing the whole time. The elder sister brought the younger into the cockpit and removed the blanket to let the other adjust to the bright light coming in through the glass. They were parked in a space station, nearly abandoned and empty save for a food place in what was probably once a prosperous food court. In front of the window shield was a brightly colored menu sign with a speaker that had a cord running between the menu and the cockpit. C’yra sat in the pilot seat and gestured for her sister.

“Come on, sit down.”

Bastet climbed into the passenger seat and folded her arms in a huff.

“I’m cold,” she whined, the white tip of her nose scrunched up in irritation.

“I’ll turn off the air then.” C’yra did so, and then folded the blanket that dropped on the floor and placed it under her seat. “Is that better?”

“No.”

“Well, that’s what you have fur for.”

Bastet whined loader.

“Look,” The elder sister exclaimed, rubbing her face and the bags under her eyes as she did. A scowl glued on her face when she faced her sister, “Are you hungry or what?”

Bastet went quiet at that. It was true, she was hungry now that she was awake, and her sister’s nasty gummy bars could only fend off her ravenous hunger for so long. The little kitten felt her tummy growl as she looked up at C’yra and nodded.

“Ok then.” The older cat pushed a button on the connection cable and a tired adolescent voice sounded through the speaker.

“Hello, welcome to France-in-Space, my name is Gurathnaka. May I take your order?”

“Yeah, can I have some kig-ha-farz with some deep-fried croissants and a medium strawberry soda?”

A few seconds passed while the man processed her order. The crackling of the speaker sounded again. “One order of kig-ha-farz with deep-fried croissants and a strawberry soda, will that be all for today ma’am?”

“Hang on.” She told him, looking to the sleepy child next to her, “What do you want?”

Bastet might not have realized this at the time, but as it turned out she was not the type of person who would be willing to entertain people or problems the first thing after sleep. Regrettably for her, she was a small child, and it was clear that her sister wouldn’t be letting her go back to sleep anytime soon, or at least not until noon.

Rubbing her eyes she replied in a small tired voice: “Can I have some chicken nuggets?”

Her sister smiled endearingly. “Sounds good.” She pressed the button again to relay the message. “Hey, can I get an order of chicken nuggets with some apple juice? Actually, can you make that two orders of chicken nuggets and another thing of croissants with apple juice?” There was a pause from the other side before the young service worker responded.

“So that will be one order of kig-ha-farz, two orders of chicken nuggets, two of deep-fried croissants, a strawberry soda and an apple juice?” His voice sounded like a dog toy. No doubt he was some teen whose employer left him extremely understaffed due to the location of the restaurant; a spaceport in the middle of nowhere. C’yra couldn’t help but wonder how long he had been at his shift and whether or not they were the first customers he had in the last couple of hours. He somehow reminded her of someone she knew a long time ago.

With a lack of response from the lady in the red jet, Gurathnaka with a bored sigh was contractually obligated to check back in through his end. “Ma’am? Will that be all for your order?”

C’yra stifled back a chuckle and glanced over at a confused looking Bastet before she pushed the button.

“Yeah one more thing, can you add an order of baeckeoffe, with an order of duck confit, and a bucket of gougère on the side to that?”

The line went silent for a good 30 seconds, enough time for Bastet to lose all trace of sleepiness from her face as utter disbelief and shock filled her features. C’yra couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of her sister's expression as the fast-food worker sounded again from the other side.

“Uh… that will be 450-”

“Hang on.” The cat woman drew out a voice from the depths of her throat that naturally flowed with icy authority, yet as soon as it arrived it faded as if it had never appeared at all. “I’d like you to add a large bowl of aligot and some beget to that order, and maybe some macaroons…” she paused. “You know what? Make that two boxes of macarons.”

“Um…” If Bastet was older she might have understood why C’yra was ordering more food then the two of them could ever eat in one sitting, especially since every time they had gotten food like this in the past, her sister would limit their intake to only what they could afford to eat for right then (with the exception of ice cream sometimes). But now, with all past experience of her sister and take out food seemingly flying out the window, Bastet could only help to process the sudden whiplash of such an integral part of her short life being changed and altered before her eyes.

C’yra turned to her sister with a grin and handed her the speaker.

“Is there anything you want princess?” she spoke in a fake regal accent.

The kitten hesitated but proceeded tentatively. “…Some of those donuts with jelly in them would be good.”

“Nice.” The elder woman leaned into the microphone. “Yeah, let's add a box of éclairs to that, a box of Madeleine’s, one opera cake and can you make that strawberry soda a liter?”

There sounded a loud crash from the other end of the speaker; Gurathnaka’s voice came through eventually, belting shriller in tone than ever previously thought possible.

“Uhhhhhh… W-will that be all… ma’am?”

“Hmm…” C’yra made a face as if to look insightful, leading Bastet to crack up in giggles.

“Hhmmmm…” The smaller Magicat laughed loader.

“HHHHGGGGGGG!!!” The kitten was on the floor.

“I don’t know…” C’yra finally replied, watching her sister struggle to breathe as she picked herself up off the ground. “What do you think?”

“Can-” Bastet tried to keep in her laughter as she spoke, “Can…can I have a toy?”

The older sister nodded and pushed the button. “Did you get that Gerath?”

Silence, then a pair of footsteps could be heard quickly running up to the mic from the other side. “I-I’m sorry miss…uhhh… what was that?”

“The little girl. Wants. A. Toy.” C’yra told him slowly.

“Uhhhhhh…” There was rustling from his end before he came back on. “We have a Robo-racer-human-car-man and a Cutsie-warrior-trainie-doll.”

“Cutsie-warrior-trainie!” Bastet shouted into C’yras ear.

“Ow! Hey!” The older sister grabbed hold of Bastet’s right ear and yanked semi-harshly. “Calm down.”

The kitten deflated a bit but was not discouraged as C’yra completed the order and pulled up next to the station to wait. In the end, it took almost an hour before a long black (very sweaty looking) claw reached from out of the restaurant and delivered them their food. By that point the sisters had started a word game that didn’t stop when they got their food and didn’t stop while they were cruising away from the space station; Bastet digging into her chicken nuggets as they got back on track to their destination. By the time the sisters had properly sat down on the jets couch to eat all the food they had bought, the game was in its third round with each Magicat having one point against the other.

“So,” C’yra popped a gougère in her mouth and chewed as she talked. “Unfortunately, the shipwreck had attracted a pod of killer salmon to the surviving passengers, and there would be no survivors if they couldn’t find something better to float on than the ship's dining hall furniture.”

“But…” Bastet’s checks were covered in jelly from the éclair she was eating. “For-tune-nat-lee, another ship had showed up and it saved everyone, and it had a pool.” C’yra leaned forward to clean her sister's face with her tongue as the little one spoke. “And there were cupcakes too.”

“Yeah?” The elder sister wiped the rest of the jelly off with a napkin. “Well that’s cool for them, but UNfortunately, the killer salmon had a taste for cupcakes and the ship that had rescued them was also headed for the same sharp rocks that had sunk the first ship.”

The kitten frowned. “I don’t want to play this game anymore.”

“What? Why not?”

“You always get to do the bad one.”

C’yra stuffed more gougère into her mouth. “You mean the unfortunate part?”

“Yeah,” her sister whispered.

“So what,” The older cat took a swig of the strawberry soda. “You wanna leave all those people to drown at sea?”

“No…”

“Tell you what, I’ll do the good part this time, real quick so we can end the game.”

Bastet looked down at her feet before answering, “Ok.” She mumbled.

“Ok,” C’yra repeated, taking hold of her and Bastet’s trash. “Uhhh… fortunately, the whole thing was a dream, and the person who had it decided the ocean was a stupid place to go to anyway, so… the end.” She stood from the couch and walked over to the kitchen unit, throwing their trash in the dispenser and stuffing the food they didn’t eat into the mini-fridge for later. Walking back, she had an object in her hand that she threw Bastet’s way.

“Think fast!”

The kitten managed to catch the object, albeit by falling straight off the couch and onto the floor.

“Not that fast. Gee, what is up with you and the floor lately?”

Bastet picked herself up with a smile as she examined the box caring her soon-to-be new toy. C’yra sat back on the couch and took another swig of soda while watching her sister open and examine the trinket in the box. “So, which one did you get?” she asked.

Inside of the box was a card that came with the doll. Bastet tried her best to read out the name from the card, but it proved more difficult then what she was used to.

“Q-Queen… Mar-layna?” She handed her sister the card.

“Queen MarleNa,” C’yra corrected, resigning to read the rest of the card for the two of them. “Born on Earth to Eternian immigrants, Queen Marlena now rules Castle Greyskull with her husband King Randor of Eternia.”

The elder sister scoffed and looked down at the doll in Bastet’s hands. It was dressed to look like a stereotypical queen with warrior elements half hazardly sewn into the outfit. A fake sword was embedded in the doll's right hand; Bastet secretly hoped it was removable because it looked really out of place compared to the rest of the outfit.

“That’s too bad.” The kitten heard her sister say. “Looks like you got a pretty cruddy one.”

Normally, Bastet would be quick to agree, since C’yra had never liked things that were as girly as this doll was. But the whole reason Bastet asked for the doll was because she wanted it, and even after she saw what kind of doll it was, she still wanted to keep it even though it had a sword. Without answering her sister, she opened up her little backpack and pulled out a stuffed wolf-bat, before climbing back up on the couch with C’yra.

“Onno likes her.”

C’yra shrugged and grabbed the remote for the TV. “Well, we all know Onno has impeccable taste.” The flat-screen came to life and was tuned into a news channel from some nearby planet whose language C’yra couldn’t speak. She flipped through the stations, each playing something different and dull, until she found one that had some cartoons on it. Bastet hugged Onno and Marlena close as she became enraptured in the program, giving her sister the chance to slip away and do chores in the kitchen for a while. She just needed to get away for a while.

The show playing was surprisingly mature for its medium, though it was devoid of gore or swears, which was all that C’yra cared to know about it really. The station, like many before it, was spoken in another language, but from what Bastet could understand, it was about a group of factory workers who secretly defended the world from the monsters produced inside of the factory. And, of course, all of the workers were under the age of twelve because the show was for kids, or maybe the alien species of this world were all just short, it could have been either/or from all the two sisters knew. They watched a good 7 episodes or so as the channel seemed to be running a full-fledged marathon that sun cycle. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that Bastet watched the full 7 episodes since she could hear her sister and the sound of things breaking coming from the back room on the other side of the ship. Daddy use to say that if she ever heard such noises coming from C’yra, she was to find him and Papa and tell them about it as soon as possible, but neither Daddy nor Papa were there right now. Suddenly she heard her name being called:

“Bastie! Come here a sec!”

Reluctant, the little Magicat pulled her attention away from the show and leaped off the couch to carefully place her dolls in an upright position.

“You two get along, I’ll be right back.”

“Bastet!?” She heard her sister yell.

“Coming!”

When Bastet walked in, she stood amazed at the beautiful master bedroom that resided in the back of the ship, a large canopy bed, green soft carpeting, gorgeous yellow wallpaper with fish and flowery designs, it was all so very pretty except for the right wall. There was a separate door that was open and led to a bathroom with a sink and a shower, and a window that displayed the expansive galaxies they were currently traversing through, so many stars and colors, Bastet couldn’t help but stare. It was all very nice except for the right wall. Near the right wall was her sister sitting on the carpet, no doubt that said wall was once whole and covered in the same pretty wallpaper that was used for the rest of the room. However, now the wallpaper was very much on the floor… along with what remained of the rest of the wall. C’yra smiled at the kitten as she came in.

“Mind helping me with something?”

Bastet walked over and sat beside her. “Why did you murder the wall?”

“Little thing I’m working on while we get to where we’re going. Here, hold this.”

C’yra handed her a hammer, then realized the little kitten probably couldn’t hold such an object, so instead gently placed it in her sisters hand and lowered it to the ground.

“Don’t hurt yourself with that now.”

C’yra then stood and made her way into the crawl space between the bedroom wall and the 16 inches of steel separating the sisters from the dark vacuum of space. Bastet tried her best to keep the heavy end of the hammer at a distance.

“Hey, C’yra?”

“Yeah?” a voiced sounded from behind the wall.

“What are you working on?” the kitten asked.

“I might as well tell you.” The oldest sister answered. “I’m making a dolly.”

The child was confused by her sister's words. “…a dolly?” Suddenly, a clawed hand appears from the wall opening.

“Hammer.” It said.

Bastet dragged the tool towards the wall and with some effort managed to hand it over to her sister.

“Move.” She said and Bastet did so, allowing C’yra to pull the hammer into the wall safely and continue their conversation.

“A dolly is a kind of tool used for carrying large objects,” Bastet heard three loud bangs and then the snap splintering wood. “I decided I like that mini-fridge, so we’re taking it with us. Careful.” She handed Bastet a long piece of broken wood, which the kitten place down at her side, three more bangs sounded.

“But doesn’t that belong to the ship-shop guy?” Bastet shifted into a criss-cross position, as she thought back to the nice man who helped them find this ship.

“Yep.” Her sister answered curtly, “That guy had some pretty nice digs though, didn’t he? Self-employed, selling used ships, even has his dad helping him out.” She handed Bastet more wood.

“Ok, but that’s stealing, and Kayo said that people stole his dad's communicator once and that that made him sad.” The kitten tried to sound as morally in the right as possible, simply because of the rarity that came with teaching her sister something she probably didn’t know about: that stealing was wrong.

“Yeah,” C’yra reappeared from the wall opening with a fist full of nails, she reached over to collect the wood, coming down to Bastet’s eye level. “That’s what happens when you don’t steal responsibly, good people get hurt.” She sat down beside Bastet and started lining up the wood. “The reason why people don’t like stealing is that it’s seldom done right. The people, who do it right, just love it when other people mess it up. That way they can discourage others from stealing so that they don’t have to worry about being stolen from themselves. The people who are really good at it though, take it a step further, they’re so good at stealing that they make up rules to make it ok for them to steal. Can you hand me the duck tape over there?”

C’yra pointed towards a desk near the bed, her sister walked over to it and attempted to try and find what the elder wanted.

“No, to the left.” Bastet looked left.

“No, left!” Bastet looked the other way.

“Do you not remember what left is?!” Bastet found the tape.

“I found the tape!” She said in victory before handing it to her sister, and plopping down on a bed that was more comfortable than any other bed she had ever slept in in recent memory.

“Man, you’re blind,” C’yra complained.

“No, I’m not!”

“Well, sometimes you act like it.” The elder sister pulled some tape apart and started the construction of the dolly. She paused. “What were we talking about?”

“That stealing is… ok?”

“I didn’t say that.” C’yra corrected. “You can’t just steal willy-nilly, you gotta plan it out, pick a good target,” she used the now duck-taped board to boop her sister's stomach leaving Bastet in giggles. “…and only do it if you really need to.”

“Well, I’m not ever going to steal.” Bastet crossed her arms in a huff.

“Well, that’ll be your choice then.” Her sister replied. “Just remember: don’t blame someone for stealing from a stealer. Because if they're doing it right, then you can’t fault them for that.”

That conversation confused Bastet greatly, stealing was supposed to be wrong, and she knew that. But if what her sister said was true, then how was there a right way to steal? Sometimes she didn’t know if her sister was really all that smart.

The two Magicat girls spent the rest of their time together talking and building the “dolly” that somehow managed to hold up the mini-fridge despite how messy it looked putting it together. Afterward, C’yra made Bastet read through a small magazine. Though the point of it was that Bastet was reading it rather then C’yra, C’yra did end up reading most of the magazine anyway but still, progress was progress.

Then the two did what C’yra called: common-sense lessons. Bastet remembered when she was younger and her sister had her pick out which faucet nob turned on hot or cold water in the sink: at first, she was allowed to touch the water to make sure which, but after awhile C’yra had her pick out the water without touching it. It was through that experience that Bastet learned how heat usually radiated off of surfaces. Another time, when all of her family was together in the market place of another planet, Daddy and Papa told her to stay where she was in the square until the bell tower stroke noon, then she was to find them by using her nose. Of course, they didn’t leave her in a crowded area all by herself, as C’yra was watching her sister’s progress nearby and would point her in the right direction if she ever got too far off track. This time in the jet however, C’yra had Bastet place her hand in the trash dispenser before removing it and throwing in a paper ball that promptly burst into flames the moment the elder locked the latch to the glass door. The lesson: Don’t place your hand in the trash dispenser.

They played some video games and jammed to some interstellar music in the cockpit for a while until C’yra checked the time on the dash and sighed when she realized exactly what time it was. After another hour of tricking her sister into the bathroom, chasing after her when the kitten realized the trap that had been laid out and trying to make it thru a typical session of bath time without drawing blood from both ends, C’yra fed Bastet some leftover begets and duck before getting her teeth brushed and sending her to bed.

“Ok…” The elder sighed as she sat down by the bedside and placed a hand on her sister's blanket-covered tummy. “How are you feeling? Too hot? Too cold?”

Bastet shook her head from underneath the covers. Though she was tired from the dancing, the bath, the early rise from the morning before, for some reason she couldn’t exactly say, sleep was the most terrifying road to restfulness that the child could dare to fathom at the moment.

“Well,” her sister said, rising from her seat on the bed. “In that case, I’ll be on the couch.”

“Wait!” the kitten whined. She sat up and grabbed her sister’s arm to prevent her from leaving.

“What?”

“…I’m scared,” Bastet mumbled. Her sister had already turned off the lights, concealing the room in shadows and replacing the few rays of light illuminating C’yra’s wall cave with only more darkness.

“Of what?”

The kitten pointed towards the hole in the wall, almost no light perpetrated into it not even from the kitchen on the other side of the door, it was as if the cavern was a secret portal into a realm of total darkness and complete shadow. Though both sisters could technically see in the dark, the lack of light still made the wall portal look ominous, disturbing, and sinister.

“…Yeah.” C’yra answered staring into that void. “I know what you mean…” She stood up and moved over to flip on the light switch so as to illuminate the room and the dark hole in her stride. “I’ll be right back.”

As the elder sister left the room and made her way back through the ship, Bastet stayed where she was and continued to stare at the murdered wall, though it was defiantly less scary now that the lights were on, the memory of her and her sister’s shared fear still managed to linger in that space, though the kitten had no idea why. Maybe there really was a monster hiding in those walls if C’yra was also afraid, but C’yra was never afraid of anything.

C’yra came back to the bedroom with three things: Bastet’s stuffed wolf-bat Onno, The spare blanket she was using this morning, and a desk lamp from one of the other rooms. She then retreated again, only to come back with all of their bags from the main hallway now carried into the bedroom. C’yra picked up the blanket and duck taped what she could over the hole in the wall.

“There.” She smiled. “Now we don’t have to look at this ship's ugly insides.” C’yra walked over beside the bedside and plugged in the lamp. She turned it on and went to turn off the overhead. “Man this thing is a dump. All pretty and glossy on the surface but crap design, we’ll be lucky if it holds out long enough till we get to-” She cut herself off. 

“Where?” Bastet asked excitedly.

C’yra grinned and curled up on the bed beside her sister. “Well, let's see.” She took hold of her sister's hand. “Close your eyes.” she did as she was told, and at first could only see the blackness behind her eyelids, before she heard her sister’s voice again. “Can you see me?”

_No._ She was about to say, but then she saw it, Her sister’s mind, her heart, and her feelings. They were all directed at Bastet and they all seemed to be saying: I’m right here. I see you. I love you. Bastet leaned into those feelings, they were so warm and inviting even though they had scars and jacked up pieces missing all over, like they had been damaged, used, and broken by something long before Bastet’s time. Then she saw more feelings, not from C’yra but from somewhere else, somewhere far and close at the same time. She felt mild anger from a ship not too far away from their own. It felt like their Aunt Mirage was mildly annoyed with someone who was probably her husband: Uncle Dua, who felt sheepish and embarrassed, but not ashamed as he held their one-year-old kitten: Mayet, who was crying out in hunger. They were hundreds of light-years away, but they seemed to be heading to the same place Bastet and C’yra were going. Bastet felt more feelings, ones from people they had visited just this year or the year before, like when Aunt Mirage had her baby, and some from people she hadn’t seen since she was very small. She felt her cousins, the twins Tut and Lyssa who were both in timeout, and she felt their mother: Aunt Hathor, being both loving and stern as she cooked dinner for them. She felt her Uncle Geb reacting with mixed feelings to someone she couldn’t feel, likewise with Uncle Geb’s daughter: Cleo who was not that much older then C’yra and who was one part annoyed and one part excited at the prospect of where they were going.

Suddenly, Bastet felt the presence of at least a hundred ships nearby, all carrying her relatives, all of which were headed towards the exact same place. And at that place, were even more of their family gathered together, including her parents. She felt the love that her Papa and Daddy both shared together and she felt that love reflected back onto herself and C’yra. They were all going to the same place; they were all going home.

“We’re…” the kitten opened her golden eyes and looked up at her sister, she hadn’t noticed how they had been hugging until she found herself wrapped in C’yra’s arms and tail. “We’re… going home?”

“Yep. It’s been three years already.” The elder untwined away from her sister’s embrace and stood up away from the bed. “Which means it’s time to go back to Half-Moon and see everyone, which means you have to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when we get there tomorrow.” The elder tried to tuck the child back into bed but was stopped when Bastet sat upright and held onto her. “I don’t wanna sleep now.” She complained. Bastet was way too excited; too happy and filled with thoughts, there no way she could fall asleep now.

C’yra scoffed and pulled away, before walking towards the bags lying on the floor, she reached into the largest one and pulled out a small, scrappy looking lute covered in stickers and duck tape. She sat back down on the bed beside Bastet and started strumming as she spoke.

“Well, I guess I’m going to have to sit here and annoy you with sound until you fall asleep.” 

And so that was how Bastet fell asleep that night, listening to her sister’s fingers strumming on the instrument that she only brought out on special occasions.

**I might go to Earth, sleep out with the dogs, find some empty castle, put my jacket on a cross…**

When she was younger she remembered C’yra playing the guitar more often, almost obsessively, day in and day out, to the point where she had to be told by Papa that the elder Magicat was actually her sister, rather than some woman who just so happened to live with them.

**The mice are in the fields, and the ghosts are in the towers, little wind I’m with you in the roadside flowers…**

That was when Bastet was still a baby though, now she and C’yra were best friends, and soon all of the people in her life would be together again to start a new journey across the stars.

**I might go to town, drink myself away, find some singing bird and try to step inside her cage…**

Bastet might have been unaware of this, but there were others in the cosmos that were anticipating going home to their shared planet. On some distance world there lived a longhaired woman who was currently adjusting the engine to her ship while being assisted by her lover and all of their other companions.

**I might go to waste, and I might be a coward, but little wind I’m with you in the roadside flowers…**

On the planet they were reaching for, there lived a muscle-bound arachnid woman who had spent the last few days wrapping up dealings between herself and a fellow princess, all about trade deals and other pleasantries related to ruling a kingdom.

**Don’t you want to fly with the highland birds…? **

And far, far away, on an even farther distant world, there lived a beautiful golden-haired woman, dressed in an elegant red dress, doing paperwork in an ivory white palace that served as the capital to her family’s beloved kingdom.

**Don’t you want to play in the Catalan dirt…?**

As she shifted through approval forms and letters from other ruling bodies across the universe, one in particular caught her eye. An invitation from her oldest (living) friend, asking for her attendance to a ball hosted on the planet they both grew up on. A smile stretched across her face at the thought of seeing some of her old friends again, it had only been about 6 months since she last traveled to see them all, but it already felt like a lifetime ago. Besides, at this point in her life she could really use the distraction.

**…Maybe it’s my fault, and maybe it’s my power, but little wind I’m with you in the roadside flowers.**

As her sister finished her song, a light lick was felt on the forehead of the little kitten before Bastet finally fell into a deep slumber, secure in the knowledge that her sister and parents would always be with her no matter what.

C’yra stood up, guitar in hand, and turned off the light.

**Author's Note:**

> Updates are based on chapter time. Every time a chapter is completed another will be updated. Yep, hope you're in it for the long haul. There are a few things that happen in this chapter that are not specifically stated in the text so if you find them don't be quiet. Let us know, so I can tell how well this whole thing is coming across.


End file.
